Free
by Lonersoforlorn
Summary: Harry's made a dire mistake that's cost him everything. Now, there's only one person he can turn to. Ursula the sea witch. AU


Of course, Harry Hook knew more than enough to realize that making a deal with a Sea Witch wasn't the best choice. Especially with tales swirling around that the price could be deadly. Desperation, however, has made plenty of men weak and Harry was no exception. This was his last and only option. His only hope.

Anxieties slithered in and out of his thoughts occasionally clashing with Harry's infamous determination. A determination that was so powerful that even after his grief-stricken fall, this determination had almost dulled the painful ache in his knees. Harry's determination had brought him here; to the location of the Sea Witch.

The Sea Witch who was every bit as terrifying as every story about her described. Harry needed a distraction from his current dilemma. He needed to figure out something that will make all of the anxieties currently taunting him flee, so he places his hand inside of his pocket to feel for his father's compass. No, it wasn't his father's anymore, it belonged to his sister CJ now.

She was the one who had brazenly risked her life to reclaim the heirloom from skull rock. An heirloom from a father incapable of loving her. Or Harriet and especially not Harry.

Why did Captain Hook even have children? It was a question that plagued all the Hook sibling's minds. Everyone knew of his hatred of them, especially, considering his biggest enemy was immortally twelve.

The Hook siblings felt their father's hatred for them every day of their short lives. As if any of them had a choice in their existence. Or their demise in the Hook sibling's current grim predicament. How were they to know that one mistake could land them the ire of the ghostly pirate Davy Jones?

CJ had known and she had warned both Harry and Harriet, but they both preferred to welcome their greed rather than sound logic. And it had cost them all everything. CJ was now bonded to Davy Jones's pirate ship for all eternity. Harriet...she was gone. Davy Jones had sent her straight to his locker.

Harry had seen many things living on the Isle of the Lost but watching Harriet die...it was the first time he felt truly horrified. He could still hear her screams of agony. The worst part of it all. There was nothing he could to do to save her. He was exactly how his father always described him. Useless.

Harry flips the compass in his pocket hoping it'd help him focus. He couldn't get lost in his thoughts and angst. His main and only focus should be on CJ. She was all he had left now and he couldn't let Davy Jones punish her for his crime. All he had to do was break the contract. A matter that one would think quite simple but nothing with Davy Jones is simple.

Ursula loudly clears her throat trying to get Harry's attention. It works as Harry finally breaks away from his thoughts. "So, I'm guessing your sister, doesn't matter as much as you claimed earlier? For you to hesitate, and for so long, clearly you don't care."

"I care!" Harry argues with passion."More than you'd know. She's my sister. I will pay any price to save her."

"Any?" Ursula stresses, her eyes twinkling in delight. "Are you sure you can accept any price? A contract, especially, one with Davy Jones isn't easy to break. The price is high and the consequences are always painful. Can you still say that you will pay any price?"

"Of course, she's my family. My only family, now. I'll do anything to save her."

"I've heard that so many times before, yet you actually seem genuine." She stops studying his face for a brief moment. "I guess that's the passion a feeling like guilt can ignite."

"I'm not just doing this because it's my fault. I've lost one sister and I won't lose another." Harry's voice breaks, and grief starts to claim him once again.

Ursula laughs. "Whatever you want to believe."

Anger brewed in along with Harry's renewed grief. After a moment, Harry successfully manages to suppress his feelings. His mind focuses on his goal. Saving CJ. He reaches into his pocket and then holds out his father's compass. He could practically hear CJ angrily ranting at him, for easily giving it away. But what choice did he have? Surely, she'd understand after he explained everything. It was her life he was saving.

"It's the only valuable thing I have." He informs, opening up the compass to reveal a large shimmering diamond in the middle.

"Oh," Ursula chuckles." Haven't you heard the stories about me? I want something more valuable than that."

Was she being serious? That diamond was worth a fortune. Harry almost says this out loud but the fates seem to stop him. Instead, he slips the compass back into his pocket. A little relieved CJ will have it when she returns. Harry starts patting his pockets, desperately searching for anything of value. There was so little coin in every single pocket of his jacket. It was surely not enough to be classified as valuable and definitely wouldn't entice a sea witch.

"Are you talking about my hook? It's not very valuable..." Harry says, placing a hand protectively on it. _I can't be selfish...this is for CJ._ Reluctantly, he unhooks it from his belt loop then offers it to Ursula. "It's yours, please just break the contract."

"You said you'd give me anything earlier. Yet, here you struggle to give away a hook." Ursula looks at him unimpressed. Then her face is adorned with a sinister smile." My price is your soul."

"My soul?" Harry repeats gulping with fearful eyes. Why did he think this would be simple? As if all consequences would suddenly cease to exist. He had heard the tales and didn't listen. Maybe in his heart, he always knew it would end like this. _This is exactly why you never try to make deals with sea witches. The deals never end well._

"Yes, you poor unfortunate. I want your soul. It's maligned and twisted perfectly for my darkest spells."

She wanted his life. And if he didn't give it to her CJ wouldn't be saved. But this would be his end. He'd be gone. Forever.

Harry felt a familiar ache in his shoulder, one he had grown accustomed to over the years. This familiar pain started right after his tenth birthday when a wave-like scar appeared randomly on his shoulder. He had never figured out the scar's origin, but Harry wrote it off as an injury he didn't remember. Living on the Isle, one was always prone to injuries. Harry more than others.

He rubs his shoulder, thinking hard about his current predicament. As Harry contemplates his existence the door to Ursula's shack suddenly opens. A girl around his age enters the room. For a moment, Harry thinks she looks familiar. He shakes the thought once he gets a good look at her. There was no way he could forget someone that stunningly beautiful.

He finds himself unable to look away. She paid him no mind, however, going straight to approach Ursula. She starts to speak but Ursula pays her no mind, so she rolls her eyes and lets out a deep sigh. Harry almost forgets about his impending death as he listens on. His jaw drops when he hears the girl call Ursula mom.

At first, Harry didn't believe it. The sea witch having a daughter. It sounded preposterous. He must have heard wrong, but as he continued watching, there were some things he couldn't help but notice. Their mannerisms were eerily similar, and appearance-wise the girl favored Ursula greatly in looks. He wonders for a second if perhaps that was the reason he felt a sense of familiarity earlier.

The beauty turned to face Harry and scowled. Harry could only blink in response which didn't please her at all. "What are you looking at?" She questions agitated by his staring.

Harry doesn't answer, so, the beauty turns back to her mother. "Did you take his voice?"

"No," Ursula answers annoyed." Harry here is just weighing out the consequences of my price. His life or his sister's."

"No tricking him into it? Just telling him the tiny print upfront. Not usually your style, ma"

"With a reputation like mine, it's so hard to obscure my prices. Besides, I'm getting old, and there's no need for such idle chatter with poor unfortunate souls. Straight to the point is the best way to go."

Ursula's daughter nods in agreement, but it was obvious to Harry that she wasn't really listening. Her eyes were now focused on Harry who still couldn't take his eyes away from hers."Gods, you must be an idiot to have come to my mother for help."

Ursula loudly plops one of her tentacles next to her daughter in response. The girl jumps back regretting her words. "I mean, mom's the best choice for help. So reliable." She says through gritted teeth.

Ursula shoots her a satisfied smile. "Have you made your decision yet?" Ursula asks Harry.

Harry leans his head down still feeling unsure. Only raising it back up when he hears Ursula's daughter quip. "You should hurry up. Mom is quite impatient. The last person to make her wait is now salt in our cabinet."

Placing a tentacle on her daughter's shoulder, Ursula violently squeezes it. Ursula's daughter clings her hand to her shoulder with a suppressed cry. A sharp pain creeps in Harry's own shoulder as he watches on.

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Harry darts in Ursula's daughter's direction. He instinctively pulls off his hook from the loop of his belt. He never reaches her as Ursula pushes him against her shack wall. He groans as his hook falls from his grasp leaving him with no way to attack.

"What did I tell you about your little smart comments?" Ursula chides.

"If I keep making them you'll take my voice." The beauty grumbles out.

Ursula then removes her tentacle from her daughter's shoulder but not before knocking her daughter down. Ursula's daughter manages to catch herself by holding her hands out. Harry's hand throbs in pain as he struggles out of Ursula's hold.

"Now, your decision, Harry?"

Harry's eyes blaze with ire when he looks at Ursula. "Do you mind unpinning me?"

Ursula lets him drop onto the ground. Harry slowly gains his balance as he stands up. He stumbled a little moving forward in the direction of his hook. Ursula eyes him with suspicion, but he places it back on the loop of his belt.

"Your decision?" Ursula asks again, this time impatience was heavy in her tone.

Harry takes one last glance at Ursula's daughter, who to his relief is standing up again. Their gaze meets for a brief moment and Harry feels a strange tug in his heart. She quickly avoids his gaze and Harry finds himself wanting to know her. Or at least her name.

Harry had never desired to know anyone his whole life, but with this girl, it was all he wanted. Wanted to become a part of her world. Find out her likes, her dislikes, and see her smile. How could he have such strong emotions for a girl he just met?

A girl whose mother was impatiently waiting to take his soul. Harry turns to look at Ursula. A contract now hovered right beside her. All he needed was to sign it and his sister would be free. Harry holds his breath finally coming to a decision.

In one breath, he tells Ursula his choice. "Take it, okay. Take my soul! It's a deal. Just make sure this compass gets back to my sister?"

Ursula doesn't answer, instead, she pushes the contract in his direction. It stops right next to his writing hand. A feathered pen appears and Harry grabs it. He slowly writes every letter of his name. Tears fall from his eyes when he gets to the last letter.

"You're up." Ursula pushes her chin in Uma's direction. She looks back at Harry. "I hope you don't mind. It's been so long since I've gotten my hands on a soul, so jr. here hasn't had a chance to have a real hands-on experience. You'll be her first."

"It's Uma, ma." Uma reminded. Her brow then wrinkles, and she crosses her arms."Why are you making me do this?"

Harry finds himself satisfied with learning her name. He wants to say it out loud but it's strange to call for your executioner.

"Uh, whatever." She waves for Uma to come closer. A book appears in her hand and glows as it opens to a certain page."Just say this, and put every ounce of your power in your voice. You can consider this your final test and if you pass you'll finally get what you want."

Uma frowns, her face showing that she's heard something similar before. "Ma, I'm not one of your customers, so I know exactly how your deals work. So do you mean it this time?"

"Trust me, I mean it this time. Uma, everything you've ever claimed, I took from you will be returned." Ursula says with a suspiciously wide grin that was making Harry nervous.

Grabbing the book, Uma starts reading, ignoring how her hands trembled with fear. It brought Harry some relief to know she didn't want to do this. The relief quickly turns to terror as her voice grows louder. Harry feels as if he's being pulled from his body, he tries to stop it but soon the fight is over.

Uma drops to her knees in immense pain. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire, and she felt an emptiness from within. Her head starts to throb as she hears the whoosh of his soul enter her mother's necklace. She's attacked by a vision. A forgotten vision.

She was younger, and standing beside her stood a boy. A boy who looked just like the one that lied dead on her mother's floor. As the vision goes on Uma starts to realize this was a memory. Her memory.

 _"Can you believe we'll be out of here tonight? I'll finally get to sail the sea and be a real pirate." Harry smiled at her and her heart fluttered for a moment._

 _She had to tell him. The secret she held was too heavy to bear alone._

 _She grabbed Harry's hand ready to spill the truth. Ready to tell him all about her mother's plan to betray his father and leave them all behind. Uma starts to spill everything but Harry continues. "I even have a tattoo now. Well kind of. This really weird-looking scar was on my shoulder when I woke up. It kind of reminded me of you." He blushed a little embarrassed he said the last part aloud._

 _Harry lifted up his sleeve and Uma gasps recognizing the scar. It looked exactly like the scar on her shoulder and was even in the same place. As Uma tries to process this information and figure out what it means, she hears her mother's voice. She pulls Harry's hand and starts to run. They didn't get far enough, and her mother's tentacle grabs for her leg. Uma falls and Harry takes his father's hook off his belt. Ursula easily swipes him away and knocks him out, before he even has a chance to attack._

 _Uma tries to get out of her mother's hold but there was no way. Ursula's grip was tight and she was pulling Uma closer and closer towards her. When Uma finally reaches Ursula, her mother only has two words to say. "We're leaving."_

And so they did, never to come back. As soon as they were free of the Isle, Ursula had taken away Uma's memories. Memories that she had bonded with Harry's life. Uma's whole body shakes in revulsion. Her friend. Her only friend was gone. Uma's shoulder throbbed, a knowing feeling coming over her. He was going to be so much more than that to her. It was fated. She felt it. She knew it.

Uma takes a glance at his lifeless body, and she cries out in horror. "What did you make me do? What did you make me do?!"

Uma loudly sobs, clutching her heart. Her mother taunts her." Tell me, child. How does it feel to be free?"

A.N. This is the first tragedy fic I've ever written and probably the last cause this is painful. Thanks for reading!


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